Treating myself for my birthday
June 25th, 2012 by Roger Darlington
I was a very early adopter of the iPhone [first posting here] and, after four and a half years with the same phone, I have been wondering when I should upgrade.
Similarly I was a very early adopter of the iPad [first posting here] and, after two years, again I have been wondering when I should upgrade.
So today – my 64th birthday – I went along to a shop of my mobile network operator to discuss obtaining a new iPhone. I was persuaded not to go now for the iPhone 4 but to wait until the Autumn for the iPhone 5.
But I really wanted to treat myself today, so I went home and ordered online from the Apple Store the New iPad (aka the third generation) and a fancy cover. Can’t wait to play …
Posted in My life & thoughts, Science & technology | Comments (5)
“When I’m Sixty-Four”
June 25th, 2012 by Roger Darlington
In 1967, the Beatles issued the album “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” and one of the songs on it was “When I’m Sixty-Four” [ lyrics here]. At the time, I was aged 19 and a big Beatles fan. At the time, I thought that 64 was pretty old.
But today I am 64 and I don’t feel old. Indeed I like to think that I am still young at heart. On this day of all days, I can’t help thinking of that Beatles song [performance here].
Posted in Cultural issues, My life & thoughts | Comments (4)
Two reviews of “To Kill A Mocking Bird”
June 24th, 2012 by Roger Darlington
A few years ago, I finally got round to reading the 1960 Harper Lee Pulitzer Prize-winning novel “To Kill A Mocking Bird” [my review here].
However, it was only this weekend that I saw the faithful film adaptation of 1962 [my review here].
Posted in Cultural issues | Comments (0)
Will Barack Obama be re-elected? (2)
June 24th, 2012 by Roger Darlington
“Prospects for an Obama win have been buffeted by poor job figures and the threat of economic meltdown in Europe. Romney’s team know that convincing America’s swing voters that they might have better job prospects under Republican rule could turn the former Massachusetts governor into a president. The 2012 election is now up for grabs.”
This is an extract from an article in today’s “Observer” newspaper.
Arguably Obama won the election in 2008 because the American economy tanked under the watch of a Republican president. Four years later, the state of the economy could well be the key factor in determining whether Obama can win re-election.
Posted in American current affairs | Comments (0)
My water appointment gathers flow
June 22nd, 2012 by Roger Darlington
It is now almost three months since I started my new appointment as Chair of the Customer Challenge Group at South East Water. It’s been a fascinating time in which I’ve learned so much and met many dedicated people.
The company arranged a comprehensive induction for me with four days of discussions with the most senior managers and two days of site visits. Meanwhile I have been appointing member of the Group and we have now held our first meeting.
The trade magazine “Utility Week” devoted three pages to an interview with me and featured me on the front page [you can read it here], while the water regulator Ofwat has asked me to speak at a conference in a couple of weeks time.
So the new role is developing well and, if you’re interested, you can follow our work on a section of the company’s web site devoted to the Group here.
Posted in Environment, My life & thoughts | Comments (2)
A review of “Prometheus”
June 21st, 2012 by Roger Darlington
I love films; I really enjoy science fiction movies; and I’ve always welcomed additions to the “Alien” franchise.
This week, I saw “Prometheus” – the fifth element of the franchise when Ridley Scott, director of the original, returns to the story. You can read my review here.
Posted in Cultural issues | Comments (0)
Discovering a new place in London
June 21st, 2012 by Roger Darlington
I’ve lived and worked in London for 40 years, but from time to time i still discover a new place of interest. This week, it was the Wiener Library for the Study of the Holocaust & Genocide.
I went there to view a small exhibition on the Berlin Olympics of 1936, obviously timed as a counterpoint to the London Olympics of this summer. As always, I learned new things.
I had not known that, for the Olympics after the Great War in both 1920 and 1924, Germany was excluded but, that, when the country was readmitted to the Games in 1928, it achieved the second highest collection of medals.
Most people know about Jesse Owens, the black American athlete who at the Berlin Games upset the Nazi propaganda of Aryan racial superiority. But I did not know about Helene Meyer, a German Jew who was compelled to leave the country and take part in the Berlin Olympics as an American competitor.
Posted in History | Comments (0)
Gaby’s Deli saved for at least a year
June 20th, 2012 by Roger Darlington
Last September, I did a posting about the campaign to save my favourite London cafe: Gaby’s Deli in Charing Cross Road near Leicester Square. The campaign has gone from strength to strength and I am delighted that Gaby’s is still open and that we now know that it will have a lease at least until May 2013.
This is great news for Gaby, his brother Menahem, the staff and all their customers.
Headline in tonight’s “Evening Standard”
I love the place so much I set my first short story there – as you will see here.
Posted in Miscellaneous, My life & thoughts | Comments (0)
Whatever happened to the cashless society?
June 19th, 2012 by Roger Darlington
“When I first became involved in the communications industry in the late 1970s, I was convinced that the then new microelectronics revolution would soon eliminate a lot of the need for cash. At that time, it looked as if some kind of electronic card would be the approach.
In the 1980s, there was a trial in Swindon of a card called Mondex which was supposed to promote e-payments. It never happened and most of us still have as many notes in our wallet and coins in our pocket as ever.
Some three decades later, it does now look as if finally e-cash is set to happen big-time. A host of schemes are being launched and a plethora of players are involved and, at this stage, we cannot know which technology and which organisation will come out top.”
This is how I have opened the latest – number 73 – in my long-running series of columns on Internet issues. You can read the rest here.
Posted in Internet, Science & technology | Comments (2)
The Anglo-American War of 1812
June 18th, 2012 by Roger Darlington
Two hundred years ago today, a war commenced between the United States and Britain. Today the conflict hardly features in the history classes of either nation.
You can read a short note on the war here and a longer account here.
The war is mostly remembered in the USA as the origins of the national anthem “The Star Spangled Banner” which was inspired by the American success in the battle of Baltimore focussed on Fort McHenry which I visited a couple of weeks ago [my account here].
Posted in History, My life & thoughts | Comments (1)